Twenty Questions
by dragoonqueen
Summary: Shepard and Garrus find themselves trying to pass the time while waiting to be dug out after a cave in. And what better way than by finding out more about your best friend and fellow captive. Eventual Shakarian fluff. BioWare owns the characters and universe, I just like playing in their sandbox. This is my first published fic so please be gentle.
1. Chapter 1

"So what now Shepard?", Garrus Vakarian sat on the cave floor with his arms crossed in front of his chest leaning against the back of the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

"I dunno. We've covered our hunt to for Saren, mutual acquaintances and the past and current crew of the Normandy; weapon mods we have, mods we want to have, mods that don't exist but would be cool to have, upgrades to the ship, what the weather's like on both Earth and Palaven, and you've tried to explain exactly what you do when you calibrate the Thanix with little success or hope of me ever understanding a word you said. I don't know Garrus, but I think we may have officially run out of small talk.", Shepard smiled at her teammate in the dim light of the emergency lamp that sat in between them.

"Well, hopefully it won't take the others too long to dig us out of this. Mind you we are talking about being at the mercy of Grunt here."

"What? I have faith that he'll be able to pilot the shuttle back to the Normandy on his own and get help. Don't know how long it'll take to get through the rocks without caving the rest of the tunnel in, but I think we won't have to worry about it being days.

"You always know exactly what to say to make me feel so much better, Shepard", the turian drawled, his flanging voice laden with sarcasm.

"Look at it this way Garrus, even if we are stuck in here for an extended period of time, at least you don't have to worry about cannibalism, my dear dextro."

"I reiterate my previous statement."


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer_: See fic description.

New chapter, a bit longer than the last. I never know how long these should be. Figure I'd probably try for the shorter, but more frequent route unless there's a general preference. Anyways...enjoy!

* * *

The situation wasn't as bad as they had initially thought. While yes, being trapped on the wrong side of a landslide in a cave was never a good thing, it could have been much worse. They quickly established that there was enough airflow coming through a small crack at the back of the cave so there was no risk of suffocating. There was also enough food and water to last them at least three days if they combined what was in their survival kits with the supplies that had belonged to the mercs they had taken out. The icing on the cake had been when Shepard had opened a crate to discover that it contained blankets and sleeping bags.

The only downside is that they had already been there talking for hours and felt like they were ready to climb the walls out of boredom. As close friends as they were, there was only so many times they could listen to the same war stories. Making it more difficult was the fact that had they were frequently both on the ground team for most of the chase after Saren, so there was no point in telling a story to someone who had been there.

"The only thing I can think of right now is would you want to try and play a game?", Shepard said after a few minutes of contemplative silence.

"Now you're going mention that you have a deck of cards, really? What else are you holding out on me?"

"Not cards. Though packing a set just in case wouldn't be bad idea after this. Don't you have games that just involve talking on Palaven?"

"What do you mean?"

"Games like _I Spy_, _Never Have I Ever_, _Truth or Dare_, or _20 Questions_? You know, games that usually kids or teenagers usually play at parties or sleepovers. Something to do to pass the time and keep you from going insane on a long transport ride, that kind of thing."

"What by the Spirits above is _I Spy_?"

"Basically it's a guessing game where you pick an item in the room and you have others try and guess what it is by it's colour, shape, the first letter of it's name, et cetera. Here I'll give you an example. I spy with my little eye, something that starts with "V"."

"Vakarian."

"No."

"Visor."

"Damn."

"Yeah, I don't know Shepard, that would probably get really old, really quickly," Garrus said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

The silence crept in again. Shepard stood, grabbed a couple of blankets from the crate and dropped down beside Garrus, and tossing him one and wrapping the other around herself. The temperature in the cave was dropping, more than likely due to dusk setting in. It wasn't freezing cold, but chilly enough that Shepard wanted to cocoon herself in fabric.

"What about _20 Questions_? How do you play that one?", Garrus said, only half paying attention while he peeled off the wrapper to his water bottle.

"Mmm, with that one you pick a topic and the person who is guessing has only twenty questions to guess what it is. The person who picked the topic can only confirm yes or no to the question, and is not allowed to lie. The only exception is you can say if you don't know or can't answer."

"Pass."

"Well there's the other way that some people play it. It's not really the correct title, but some people play with the rules being that you get to ask twenty personal questions without the players being able to refuse. I don't mind if we give it a try, but if we're going to play, we are so doing a quid pro quo thing. No way you get to grill me without offering up some juicy tidbits about yourself."

"That could be fun. Potentially very dangerous, but fun," Garrus said flicking his mandibles into a turian equivalent to a grin.

"Oh really," Shepard gave her companion a gentle nudge with her shoulder. "Why, what else could you hope to learn? You already know a ton about me. You'll probably make a fortune off the unofficial biography you'll write when this is all over."

"I don't know as much as I should as your best friend," Garrus said as his grin faded.

"What makes you say that? Not counting my mother, you probably know me the best in this entire universe, big guy. You've followed me across the damned galaxy watching my six the entire time. Between your guns and tech and my biotics, we tear up the battlefield. You laugh at my jokes. And my dancing. You helped make sure I didn't die when that asshole bartender tried to poison me, even after I puked on your boots. In fact you were the only one who didn't mock my driving in the Mako, and you had to fix the thing afterwards," Shepard stopped and narrowed her eyes when she thought she heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'At least not to your face' under his breath. "Alright fine, how about I go first. Why do you think you don't know that much about me?"

Garrus quickly turned to look at Shepard, before muttering, "Shepard…I…"

"Spit it out Vakarian. You know the terms of our game. Spill." Shepard said with a chuckle.

His attention had drifted to a small spot on the floor, which Garrus gently nudged with one toe of his boot. Shepard began to worry when his mandibles began to flutter in the way they only did when he was nervous.

After a minute, without taking his eyes off the spot, Garrus spoke. "At your funeral, well the semi-public one that wasn't just for high-level Alliance brass and close family, it made me realize how little I knew about you personally. Most of it covered your career in the Alliance, how you became a Spectre and stopped Saren. All the stuff you could find out in an extranet search. Recounting your life made me realize I didn't know what was your favourite colour, or what type of music you preferred or your favourite meal. The type of simple things friends know about each other."

"Garrus…," Shepard started, trying to work out the uncomfortable lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.

"And it's not like we didn't have the opportunity to talk. Spirits, when we were en route somewhere and you would come down to the cargo hold and do your paperwork just to be closer to the majority of your team, we all had some good conversations. Looking back though, you usually tried to find out more about us than we did trying to find out about you. I regretted that."

Shepard smiled and gave another playful shove with her shoulder. "Well, we can fix that now, can't we?"

"Yeah, we can."


	3. Chapter 3

_My deepest apologies for the long delay on this chapter. Between the worst case of writers block and issues in RL, I have been banging my head on many hard surfaces trying to come up with what I needed to finish this chapter. But lo and behold here it is._

_Many thanks be to Tripinchh and Sisyphe for their reviews. My eternal kudos be to Sisyphe for the advice which gave me the kick in the arse to be able finish this chapter._

_Thank you to all those that take the time to read this. It's much appreciated._

_Disclaimer: See first chapter._

* * *

Gauging that the tone of the conversation was growing a bit too melancholy for her tastes at that given moment, Shepard quickly tried to change the subject. "Sappy moment officially over. It's your turn. Fire away."

"This question is going to sound stupid and kind of goes to prove what I was saying before, but uh…hmmm…what by the Spirits is your first name?" Garrus asked quickly, his embarrassment visible by the tone of cyan the skin on his neck was quickly becoming.

"Really Garrus? All the dirt you could get out of me and you ask me that? I think the only people who actually call me by my first name is my mother. Anderson does too occasionally, but very rarely and only when we're both off duty. Which lately has been never."

"I've always been curious."

"Even though no one ever uses it? C'mon, don't you think a list of my top ten greatest fears would be more tempting?" Shepard said with a wide smile and tone of voice that was usually reserved for when she would use her silver tongue to get what she wanted.

"Cough it up, Shepard. Besides, this is only the first round so I have lots of questions left. This has been bugging me for a while." Garrus paused as he brought up a dozen articles he had saved on his omni-tool, ranging from reports of her survival on Akuze to an opinion piece on what would become of the Alliance's chance at a seat on the Council with the death of the first human Spectre. "All I have been able to find is your first initial. I was beginning to think that the only way to find out would be to try hack into the Alliance personnel files, as none of the Normandy crew actually seemed to know or wouldn't say. Even Chakwas just smiled and gave me the "patient confidentiality" spiel. "

"Alright, alright fine…," she sighs. "It's Elizabeth, Elizabeth Shepard."

"See that wasn't so bad.", he said consolingly. "Not a fan of it I take it?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it's so bloody long. Shepard's shorter. Easier to type, easier to remember. The full thing is actually Elizabeth Jane Catherine Shepard, and believe me, when you go through life with a name as long as mine you're bound to want to shorten it as much as you can." Shepard catches herself subconsciously reaching for the steel plates and chain missing since her resurrection. "Plus there's only so much you can squeeze on a dog tag."

"I guess turians are lucky in that way; we only have a surname and a given name. Although turians usually stick to names that are in already in the family so there's not a lot of variety. Although in my family I'm a bit of an exception. Dad insisted I be named after my grandfather but Mom could never stand the man, so Garricus got shortened down. It took them three weeks after I was born for them to finally agree."

"No kidding? Well I'm pretty sure both my parents had no problem with the moniker they laid on me, seeing how it was pretty much a testament as to how they first met."

"Should I get nestled in and get ready for story-time Commander?", Garrus said as he made a small production of covering himself with the blanket, pulling it under his chin for dramatic effect.

"Don't get your hopes up, it's not that exciting. Both of my parents joined the Alliance to help get their education, and they met in an English literature elective class. They were studying the old Earth novel _Pride and Prejudice_ which happened to be one of Mom's favourite books, but Dad was completely lost. Mom offered to help tutor him and as a thank you Dad took her out for a nice dinner which led to them discovering they had more in common than they initially realized. In honour of what brought them together they named me after the main character and half her sisters. End of history lesson."

"For what it's worth Shepard, I think it's a good name."

"Thanks. If you…wanted to call me by it when we're off the clock, I don't mind. Fuck, if anyone's earned the right, it's you. If they didn't even use it once during my funeral I might as well let a couple more people call me by it before Shepard is all I'm known by."

"True. If you ever get a promotion to anything higher than Commander, people probably won't know who's being talked about."

"Ha ha. Smart ass." Shepard scoffs while giving him her best eye roll..

"You know I try." Garrus replied with his best shit-eating grin. "Your turn, Elizabeth Jane Catherine Shepard."

Shepard cringed at the use of her full legal name. "Ugh. Please, not the middle names. Now I feel like I'm in trouble. Use that sparingly Garrus, or I'll start calling you just by Vakarian."

A bark of flanged laughter echoed the cave as Garrus shook his head. He stuck his hand out to the human female sitting beside him, who promptly grasped and shook it. "You have yourself a deal…Elizabeth."

"Alright, alright, alright. My turn." Shepard tapped her left index finger against her lips as she thought. "Let's see here…I know you've mentioned that you have a sister and you brought it up quite a bit when we were on the SR1 that you've never really seen eye to eye with your father. I'm really sorry that your Mom isn't doing the greatest right now. I hope that they're able to figure something out," Shepard slowed before she could dig herself any deeper, her shoulders drooping the higher Garrus' eyebrow plates raised. "Aww crap this isn't they way I wanted it to come out. Okay, I'm just going to get this out there. Other than your immediate family, are there any other Vakarians out there? I've never really understood if turians did the whole extended family thing. Aunts, uncles, grandparents?

A brief look of remembrance cross Garrus' face before his mandibles flared in a wide smile. "Yeah, I have other family. More on Dad's side than my mother's. Mom was an only child and both her parents had already passed by the time Sol was just an infant. I have some memories of my maternal grandmother, but not a lot. As for Dad's side, it's been years since I've seen most of them, but growing up they were frequently around, especially during the holiday times. Dad was the youngest of four kids, and with the way he is, things usually got interesting when his siblings were around. With us he was the head of the household and usually he had to have the last say. Uncle Elcid and Aunt Jocasta blew that out of the water. It wouldn't surprise me if that's part of why he's so stubborn, although I think Dad's just a natural curmudgeon."

Pleased at the content look in Garrus' eyes while reminiscing about his family, Shepard set on keeping him on the topic as long as possible. "Are those are your Dad's siblings, or are they a couple?"

"Elcid and Jocasta are Dad's eldest brother and sister. They're the ones I remember most growing up as we would see them most often. My aunt Alethia is married with three kids out on Oma Ker, so I think I've seen her and her family in person only once or twice in my life. Other than that I've only chatted with them by the occasional vid call."

"But you have good memories of your other aunt and uncle?"

"Oh yeah, I mean, Aunt Jocasta was kicking my ass in hand-to-hand even before I landed in boot camp. She was one of the instructors there. People assumed that because I was her nephew she was going easy on me. Haha…Nope, not a chance! The reality was it was probably the opposite. I couldn't get away with anything, I always had to watch my back lest I become the recipient of her glaring scowl which was enough to scare anyone straight. The other recruits didn't know how tough she was, but I did. I was the only one there that knew she had served as a member of Blackwatch for a couple of years." Garrus stopped himself before continuing. "Before you think my aunt's a major hard-ass that's only when she's on the job. Off it, I think the best word you humans would use to describe her would be "bubbly" and "outgoing". I think the two of you would get along really well."

Clearly impressed, Shepard inquired, "Your aunt was special ops? That's pretty hardcore. Why did she leave, if you don't mind me asking?"

"To put it plainly, love. It was love plain and simple that made her give it up. She had been on a mission against a group of krogan pirates that had become a threat to one of the commercial transport routes near Palaven and the main force of the military was having some trouble dealing with them. Turns out the same group had pissed off my Aunt Teelah's team of huntresses on a separate hit, and the two of them wound up working together to take the pirates down. You know what they say, the family that slays together stays together. Anyways…as it turns out Aunt Teelah moved into her matron stage shortly after that and the two of them wound up settling down and getting married. Jocasta wanted a position safer and closer to home so she took up teaching at the academy."

"Awwww, I didn't know you had family that were asari, that's awesome Garrus."

"I have an aunt and two cousins. They're just one of the many reason why my Mom hated my grandfather. He refused to acknowledge them even though turian and asari relationships aren't all that uncommon. Flat out told my aunt he would never accept a former asari commando into our family, or any offspring that would come from the union. Mom and Jocasta were always close, and she defied him by including Jocasta and Teelah and their girls at every family gathering that was hosted at our house. I give my mother a lot of credit. Not only has she had to put up with my father for all these years, but she stood her ground against my grandfather even though he was the Elder of our family. Even though Dad sided with Mom on that topic, I was told it was difficult for him going against his father."

"Seems like butting heads with the patriarch of the family is a Vakarian trait.", Shepard said with a snicker.

"Maybe. I hope I'm not an asshole if I have any kids in the future. I do give my Dad some credit. From the stories I was told, it sounds like I would have hated my grandfather."

"Being the oldest I guess Elcid takes the role of being the family Elder now?"

"Theoretically yes, but he's usually not around a lot so Jocasta fills in while he's on duty. He's a lifer in the military. Research and Development in the Arms and Ammunition Division on the main base on Palaven. He works on things that make the Thanix looks like a child's toy. He's a bit eccentric when it comes to his work. With the crap he manages to come up with, there are times I can see similarities between him and Mordin."

Shepard replied with a snort. "He's like Mordin? I call bull on that one. Mordin is his own kind of special."

"He's not exactly like Mordin, but there are definitely similarities. Even down to the fact that he's missing half of his fringe due to…mishaps.", Garrus said as he tried to illustrate what he was talking about by covered half of the crests rising from the back of his head with his hand. "I do have to say, you can tease me all you want about calibrating the Thanix, but if it wasn't for Elcid, I probably wouldn't be as invested and interested in getting as much of a punch out it as I can. Or have the knowledge and know what tricks to use to do so."

"You know, with the way you talk about your family, I can definitely start to see why you are the way you are Garrus."

"We're a crazy bunch. Anyways, I've lost count at how many questions you've managed to sneak into that ONE, so I'm going to take my turn from here. What about you Shepard? Have you spoken with your mother since you've…come back?"

The moment he finished speaking Garrus instantly regretted the question as he watched the smile disappear from Shepard's face.


	4. Chapter 4

_My deepest thanks __to Sisyphe, hiddenshadows218 and ShadowedFang for their reviews as well as to all of you who have followed/favourited this story. Your support means the world to me. :D  
_

_Was hoping to get this chapter up sooner, but apparently fate has decreed that I must have a cat butt in front of my screen at all times.  
_

_Disclaimer: See story description.  
_

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"Shepard, if you don't want to talk about it…" Garrus tried to soothe the Commander as he could tell from her body language that what he had asked had touched a nerve.

"No. It's fine," Shepard sighed as she rubbed and clasped the back of her neck, a habit Garrus noticed she had when she was stressed or nervous. "You want to know, and those are the terms of the game."

"Shepard, it's just a game. If it bothers you that much we can just skip that question."

"Garrus, I'm okay. Maybe it would help if I talked to someone about it," Shepard bit her bottom lip and held it while she composed her words before continuing. "My Mom sent me a message about a week ago. I guess she heard from Anderson or Hackett that I'm still standing. Wondered why I didn't let her know myself that I was alive, and why she had to hear it through the grapevine. Needless to say, she was kinda pissed. Which I understand completely why she felt hurt. Look…I know I mentioned to you before how close my Mom and I were. If the roles were reversed I would feel the same way she did. At first the general tone of her message bothered me, but looking back, it wasn't really all that bad. She even chalked up my disappearance to it being Spectre business, which Spectre or not, if my kid pulled anything like that on me they'd be in sooooo much shit."

"I get the feeling that there's more to this, isn't there?" the turian responded, a slight wince gracing his features when his companion seemed distressed to the point of being unable to even make eye contact.

"I replied back and tried explaining what really was going on. After messaging back and forth over a period of half a night, eventually the conversation wound up degenerating and getting way worse. MUCH worse," Shepard's eyes widened at the memory. "I don't think we've ever fought like that before. Ever. We said…terrible things to each other. I never imagined in a million years that she would say some of the things that she wrote. Then there was the crap that I shot back with myself. I didn't even really feel like me saying it. I feel terrible. I tried ending it as best as I could saying that no matter what happened she was my mother and that I would always love her, but she never replied to the last message. It felt so final."

"Spirits. Is that why you disappeared into your loft so quickly after the mission for Mordin's protégé on Tuchanka?"

"Yeah, I was definitely in a vile mood at that point and figured it would probably just be safer that I stayed away from people. Even Kelly got the vibe that it would be wiser to just leave me alone. I know hiding in my room probably seems juvenile but I didn't want to unintentionally wind up pissing off or offending anyone else. Especially given that I'm not the only one on this ship with parental issues."

"Hah! You are right on that point now that you mention it. Honestly Shepard, do you think that your mother will leave you hanging for very long? I bet you that in a week or so you'll be able to smooth it over with her."

"Maybe. Who knows, maybe Mom has already replied but Miranda managed to crack the secured channel we were using and has withheld the message for "fear of altering my mental state and compromising the mission." I don't know what's worse, Miranda monitoring my messages or knowing Mom hasn't replied yet."

"Does you mother know about the Omega Relay?"

"Hell no. If I had my way she'd still be in the dark about me being alive because of this mission."

"Why?"

Resting her head on her knees, Shepard slowly let out a deep breath before raising her head to stare at the ceiling. "For the longest time, the only family we had was each other. Dad died a long time ago, and Mom doesn't have any other surviving relatives after Grandpa died thirteen years ago. I can't imagine what she went though having to bury her child once. With the odds being what they are, I didn't want to risk putting her through having to possibly mourn me a second time."

Shepard paused briefly before continuing, her voice audibly close to cracking, "It breaks my heart knowing she had to go through that at all."

A sudden weight on her shoulder jolted Shepard from her thoughts. Glancing over, Shepard could see that Garrus had rested his hand there and was peering at her with the most comforting and sympathetic expression she had ever seen on a turian. She couldn't help smile herself at the way his mandibles were flaring ever so slightly, a gesture she knew was intended to convey support. It reminded her of the look he had given her when he had startled the crap out of her after he had caught her quietly weeping in the Mako after Virmire. It had been a moment she had briefly allowed herself to grieve the loss of a friend; the tank a seemingly good spot to escape when she wasn't able to hold her emotions in check the first time she had passed the fallen Gunnery Chief's station.

"I know it's hard to think it now, but I know things will work out," Shepard stated as the patted Garrus' talons. "Thanks for listening. I know this probably wasn't what you were anticipating, but I appreciate this, I really do."

"Anytime Shepard. If you ever feel the need to talk, and I mean really talk, just tell me. The calibrations can wait."

A wide grin graced the Commander's face. "Awwww Garrus Vakarian, I do declare, that is probably the sweetest thing you have ever said to me. Will do, for sure. Definitely. I've been keeping this in and honestly it's felt like a stone on a rope around my neck. I've seen how Kelly keeps eyeing me, like she's trying to figure out the best way to get me to crack and schedule a therapeutic session with her. As sweet a girl as she is, I just don't feel like I can confide in her. At least not any of this deep emotional crap. Anyways…how about we keep going."

"You're the boss. Fire away," Garrus replied letting his hand slide off her shoulder.

"I know we were kind of nonchalant about them when you first came aboard, but the scars…do they bother you at all?"

"They're a bit aggravating but nothing I would actively complain about. If anything the worst part is that right now they're scabbed over and at the point of healing where it itches like a son of a bitch," Garrus said while making a mock scratching motion over the bandage that graced the right side of his face. "Chakwas is pretty good about making sure I'm stocked up with the medicated cream I have to use. It definitely helps take the sting out of it. It's a good thing I have it otherwise I would have scratched half my face off."

"At least you're managing to keep it under control. I remember how bad the temptation can be. When I was healing from the acid burns I got on Akuze other than being heavily medicated, there was little that seemed to work for the first little bit."

"Well, before I got a hold of the cream I wasn't able to resist satisfying the urge a couple of times. After she caught me, the good doctor lectured me for 20 minutes on the importance of allowing the tissue to heal. The worst part was before that I kept looking for implements to slide under the bandage to that would reach the spot that was driving me crazy. The utensils in the mess looked like they would be perfect length."

Shepard closed her eyes and cradled her head in her open hand, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. "Please tell me you didn't use a fork to scratch your face!"

"No need to worry, I didn't."

"Good."

"I used one of those sticks that Kasumi sometimes uses to eat with."

Shepard's jaw dropped. "Oh…my God…damn it Garrus!

"You don't know how desperate I was!" Garrus replied, a combination of sheepish and defensive laden in his tone.

"Please say that you kept them and that you didn't throw them in the dish washer. I think I wouldn't be able to handle watching Kasumi eat from here on in without wondering if she was using "The One," Shepard pleaded.

"Don't worry, it wound up breaking so I tossed it. She was never the wiser because I was able to pick up a new set at that noodle place we keep passing on our way to Saronis Applications."

Shepard shot him a look of authority. "Okay, new rule on the Normandy when we get back. No more creative uses for chopsticks or any other dining implement unless we're in a life or death situation."

His mandibles flaring out in what could be describe as a cheeky grin, Garrus tauntingly replied "Well, in that case I won't tell you what Wrex would do wi-."

Throwing up her hands in the standard signal for stop, Shepard interrupted, "Stop right there. Just stop. I don't want to know. There are just some things you just don't want to hear and whatever you are about to say is deeply entrenched into that category," Shepard sighs as she returns to her original question. "But other than that, everything's good?"

"There has been the odd time where I've looked in the mirror and it caught me off guard. Usually that's after a night of trying to keep pace with you at Eternity or Afterlife, or if we invaded Kasumi's niche to use the bar," Garrus said with a laugh. "It's happening less and less frequently. But maybe that's because it's been a while since we've stopped for a period of time greater than to just restock and refuel."

"Yes, yes, believe me I know. I keep meaning to book some time so you all don't mutiny. I swear to your Spirits that I honestly was going to book something sooner, but the Illusive Jackass just reaaaaaaaally wanted us to go to the crippled Collector ship," Shepard said, her sarcastic tone matching the eye roll that went with it.

"In all seriousness though, I think that when it comes to the scars the one thing that does bother me is that I haven't managed to get around to vid calling my family yet. I've called them, just...nothing with video. Nothing where they could see the extent of the scarring. They've got enough on their plate with Mom being sick, and I'm not able to help out as much as I want. I don't need them knowing which would then lead to worrying that I'm getting into things that could blow half your face off."

"You were on my team when we took down Saren. You were there when Sovereign crashed through the window of the Presidium Tower. It was all over the news. They must have an idea of what you do to keep yourself busy," Shepard mentioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Having an idea is one thing, knowing for sure is another. Having to listen to my mother lament on how I'll probably never find a girl now that her darling son got a little to up close and personal with a rocket is not something I look forward to."

Garrus looked down to see Shepard's hand resting on his shoulder, mirroring the action he had done for her just minutes earlier. A gentle smile pulling at the edges of her mouth, Shepard continued, "Looks aren't everything. But if it makes it easier I'm starting to get a bit of an accumulation of platinum now that Grunt has his Claymore. I could look into getting the upgrade to the Med Bay. I don't know if it would work on turians but maybe there's a chance that it help you heal so that they're not as drastic."

"Thanks for the offer but I'm fine. Besides, I don't want you to invest in it just for me. What about you Shepard? Would you use it to get rid of your scars if you got the chance?"

"Probably, but my scars are healing nicely. Yours are taking forever. I guess if I had it I would use it, but I can't justify acquiring it only for myself. Besides, there have been way more important things than fixing my face."

"Like Grunt's shotgun?" inquired Garrus with a raised brow plate.

"I wanted to get him one nice "Out-of-the-Tank" gift. You know like a first birthday present, but one that he'll actually use. What better than a gun that would snap a human's arm like a twig?"

"Given that I've heard rumours that he's been lovingly carrying it around with him almost everywhere he goes, I think you managed to pick a winner. Shall we continue with the game?"

"Alright Vakarian, lay it on me," Shepard said with laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: See description._

_Thanks be to Sisyphe and Ritualist89 for their reviews, and all of those who have favourited and followed this story and/or me as an author. It still feels surreal knowing that people actually like my work. 3_

_Special thanks be to Sisyphe for all the support she has given me. If you haven't had a chance to check out her "Dive Now" I would highly recommend it. :D_

_Just a heads up the next part may take a bit longer cause I've got a couple of questions that I'm not the happiest with and desperately need to tweak/replace them, and banging my head against my desk doesn't seem to help. :P  
_

_I'm not anticipating that I'll be posting again before 24th to which I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays (or if your celebration is already over that it was a good one). Cheers!_

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"Hmmm…you mentioned a list of your greatest fears, which does sound intriguing. How about we go with that? Tell me, what would be so terrible that it would have THE Commander Shepard, Survivor of Akuze, Vanquisher of Saren, First Human Spectre, and Hero of the Citadel quaking in fear?" Garrus said while increasing the emphasis on each of Shepard's titles.

"I half expected you to toss "Murderer of Harmless Fish" in there somewhere," Shepard replied with a wink.

"You get the drift."

"That I do. Well, you didn't want my list of ten greatest fears when I suggested it, so I'm knocking the offer down from ten to three."

"Fair enough."

"Well, I hate to say it but you're going to feel cheated on the first one. Mostly because the one I fear the most I am sad to say, is VERY common. Thus probably not very interesting. But here goes," Shepard said as she took in a deep breath. Turning towards Garrus and adjusting herself so that she was sitting cross-legged while facing him, Shepard continued, "I, as well as many others, suffer from the fear of losing the people close to them. Even though I know it's going to happen at some point, it scares the crap out of me knowing that one day my mother will be gone and I will have to live in a universe without her. That one day I might be expected to speak at Anderson's funeral, and that he won't be around to call me "Kid" or give me amazing advice anymore. Given my line of work I've gotten pretty good at tamping it down in my thoughts, but no matter what it's always there."

"You might be right on that one. That it's pretty common. I'd be lying if I didn't say that it would be pretty high up on there on my own list. Being a leader, how do you deal with it? It's different when you have people relying on you, looking to you for orders. At least I found that from the time I spent with my squad in my Archangel days."

"I won't lie, it took a lot of practice trying to make it so that it wasn't the first thing I thought of when I went out on a mission. Akuze certainly didn't help. When I was first put in a commanding position I was terrified that I would wind up getting someone killed. It took me a while to realize I had to focus on what needed to be done; that if I agonized over it, it could lead me to making a mistake which could then lead to exactly what I was scared of. There were times that I relapsed. After Virmire I wasn't sure whether or not I was the right person to continue to be in command. Losing Ash…", Shepard pressed her lips together and shook her head before she pressed on. "For all I knew it could very well have been me leading you all to your graves on Ilos. It's the same now, only worse this time, with it being the Omega 4 Relay. We're anticipating that we're probably going to lose people on this one, with the odds being what they are. I'm still not sure how I'm going to deal with this when it finally happens. The only thing that's keeping me from grounding you and Tali is that I know the two of you would never forgive me."

"Don't even think about it Shepard," Garrus replied almost growling. "Remember, if you're walking into Hell, we've already determined that I'll be right behind you. You know, trying to stay out of the way of those Shockwaves you like letting loose."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, big guy."

"What else could possibly scare you?"

"Right now…the Reapers. I mean, what if we can't stop them? That 50,000 years from now whatever race that is at the top of the food chain will be excavating our ruins and artifacts trying to figure out what happened to us? What if there is something that I could be doing to prevent them from coming and I can't figure it out?"

"Are you still getting nightmares from the beacon?" Garrus inquired, his harmonics tinged with concern.

"Not as much, but yeah, sometimes. I know it's stupid to try and hold myself personally accountable for whether or not the Reapers hit, but I'm terrified of the idea of what if I could be doing something more? What if I'm contributing to the reason why our cycle fails?

"Relax, Shepard. Give yourself some credit. At this point in time you're one of the few people in the entire galaxy who even believes that the Reapers are real. If the Council doesn't want to get off their ass and do something, why should you be expected bear that whole burden?"

"I dunno, Garrus. Just feels like it sometimes."

"You're doing everything that you can. That's all we can ever hope for."

Shepard was quiet for a few minutes while she took in her friend's words before replying, "Could you imagine what the next cycle would probably find?"

"Knowing our luck they'll probably think we worshipped Blasto as a god instead of a form of terrible entertainment," Garrus said with a chuckle. His tone turned a bit more serious before he continued, "So far you haven't really given me much dirt Shepard. Losing people you're close to and not stopping the Reapers…they are all perfectly logical things to fear. Isn't there anything that you're afraid of that's a bit out of the ordinary?"

"What? Are you hoping that it would be something innocuous like spiders? If that's what you're thinking, the answer is no. Spiders have never bothered me and as proof I would like to direct you to the fact that **I** was the one Tali stood behind when we were on Tuchanka and came across the arachnid that was the size of my head."

"No need to remind me, how could I forget?" Garrus said laughing. "What I would have given to have been able to see Tali's face through the visor when Grunt just walked up to it, plucked it off its web and ate it. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that spiders would be a part of some krogan delicacy."

"I couldn't tell if she was going to faint or puke with the way she just grasped onto my shoulder and wouldn't let go," Shepard snickered.

"For the sake of her suit filters, here's hoping it was leaning more towards fainting. I imagine that would be the easier and cleaner of the two for a quarian. But enough about Tali. I get to find out one more fear and I'm not letting you get out of it."

"I was getting to it." Shepard said defensively. "Promise me though that this will not go past the walls of this cave, you hear me? I'm only telling you because I trust you, and that you understand that I could be very creative in getting you back for it if I find out anyone else knows."

"Cross my heart," Garrus promised as he used his middle talon to make an 'X' over the right side of his chest. "I will not breathe a word about this to another living soul."

"Alright, alright…thresher maws," Shepard said quickly before hiding her blushing cheeks with her hands.

"Thresher maws?" Garrus drawled.

"Yes, thresher maws still scare the piss out of me."

Garrus' mandibles began to flutter as he was attempting to reconcile what he knew of his commanding officer and what he had just been told. After a minute of thought he could only draw a blank. "But you've fought them. In fact you didn't leave a single one alive when we stumbled across a nest back when we were on the SR1."

"Yes and how many times did I ever set foot outside of the Mako to bring them down?" Shepard replied with her hands still over her now brightly red cheeks.

"Well there was that time on Xawin…"

"Having to escape the vehicle because it was on fire and close to exploding doesn't count. If that thing hadn't popped up right behind the Mako and managed to surprise us, I would have been perfectly happy to hammer at it from a distance with the cannon," she said matter-of-factly.

Sighing and once again rubbing the back of her neck, Shepard resumed speaking, "Garrus, I've mentioned Akuze enough for you know that…it changed me. I saw some terrible shit happen. I'm still not able to open up about everything I encountered, and it's been eight years since it happened. Every time we came close to a Maw it just put me back there. I was so happy that no one on the first Normandy noticed enough to mention anything, although I suspect Wrex might have had an idea. Before we went to track down the shaman on Tuchanka, after you and Grunt had started ahead, he called me back to warn me that we could be facing a thresher maw before letting me go."

"You did alright against the one we fought for Grunt's coming of age thing. You didn't seem scared then."

"I was actually temporarily terrified to the point where I couldn't move when I first felt the telltale vibrations. I knew what was coming and the first thing I did when I was able to get my senses back was to get to cover. I just knew I had to hold it together, if not only for our survival, but for Grunt. If he saw that I was scared, I don't think he could continue to think of me as his Battlemaster. Or Battlemistress. Whatever he calls it. That and I didn't want for him to potentially screw up his Rite of Passage. You have no idea how happy I am that Wrex managed to accept him into Clan Urdnot. If he manages to survive defeating the Collectors, I know he'll do well under Wrex's eye."

"You have a soft spot for Grunt, don't you?" Garrus inquired.

"You know, I think I do. Everyone was so apprehensive of me letting him out of his tank that I was praying I wasn't making a mistake. He's surprised me though. Not just as a soldier but as a person. I just found out he's been reading Hemmingway. A newborn tank bred krogan is reading 20th century human literature because he's curious. Stranger things have happened I suppose, but that's pretty up there in my book. I was nervous that he wouldn't be able to adapt to the world, but I think it's safe to say he's doing just fine," she said with a smile.

"The kid will be alright. He does have one hell of a role model though to be fair," Garrus said as he nodded his head towards Shepard. "Did you want to take a break with the game to eat or did you want to go one more round before dinner?"

"Oh we are not stopping yet, not when it's my turn. I've got a good one. How long have you been playing music on your visor while we're killing people?"

Garrus let out a bark of laughter that echoed through the cave. "Found out about that did you?"

"Yup, I did. I tried to patch you in on a one to one comm cause I thought of a Cerberus joke that I'm certain Miranda wouldn't find funny, and I wanted to tell it to you before I forgot it. Instead I wound up almost being deafened thanks to having _Die for the Cause _blaring in my ear. I don't think I've ever heard the Turian imperial anthem before that, but now I know it's best to keep it on low volumes."

"Sorry Shepard, I hope I didn't jeopardize the mission," Garrus said apologetically.

"No, I was fine," Shepard said as she raised her hand to wave off his worry. "Just you may want to adjust the controls on any incoming messages just in case it happens to someone else."

"Noted. As for the music, I picked up the habit when I was running with my team. It started when we had some long stakeout missions and there's only so many times you can safely take stimulants before you run the risk of addiction. Music on the internal comms helped shake things up a bit, at least enough to keep from passing out on watch. Try falling asleep listening to _Hurt me Deeper_. I guarantee it won't happen. One time I had forgotten to turn it off during the firefight and one of the humans on my team got a kick out of it. Butler said that it was like we were in the vids or something with our own personal background music."

"So you keep doing it out of habit?" Shepard said with a raised brow.

"More or less. It's a bit of a morale booster when I don't have to worry about really focusing on lining up the more difficult shots. When I was cornered on Omega, it sure as hell helped keep me alive. I had run out of stims so the only thing keeping me from nodding off at times was the music."

"How long had you gone without sleep when we showed up?"

"I lost count at that point, but I estimate it was maybe around 67 hours give or take."

Shepard's mouth dropped open in shock. "My god Garrus! No wonder you seemed so exhausted."

"Ha! When I saw the N7 on the collar of your armour, I couldn't tell if I was either starting to hallucinate or if you were the one who was coming to accompany me to the afterlife."

"While the right side of your face would probably show otherwise, it could have gone much worse. I'm glad we got you out when we did. I guarantee I wouldn't have handled it well if we had found Archangel dead, and I realized it was you."

"Yeah, well…," Garrus muttered, while Shepard grinned at the slight bluish tinge of his neck.

"Before we continue with the game, I think it's time we pause for a bite to eat. You hungry Vakarian? I'm famished," she said as she opened her pack to extract her ration bars and a couple of bottles of water. "Besides, by the time we're done, you should have had some time to think of the next question, right?"


	6. Chapter 6

The two engaged in casual conversation while they ate. It eventually degenerated into their usual playful teasing; Shepard joking how much time Garrus would need to catch up on his calibrations after being stuck for as long as they were, and Garrus commenting on how he had never known that humans were capable of eating that much before he had met her and Kaidan. By the end of the meal the cave was echoing with their combined laughter as Shepard tried to grab Garrus' arm in an attempt delete the photo he had taken of her sticking her tongue out at him from his omni-tool.

They settled back into their previous position of leaning against the cave wall in a pile of blankets after packing the rest of their rations away and stowing away the empty packaging. It had been minutes since Garrus had said anything, and seeing that his eyes were closed, Shepard had begun to wonder if he had drifted off to sleep.

She was slightly caught off guard when Garrus spoke without opening his eyes, "Favourite colour?"

"Blue," Shepard replied without any hesitation.

Garrus' eyes snapped open and he looked down at her before replying, "Huh. That wasn't what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

Using a gloved talon to tap the shoulder of Shepard's crimson toned armour, he continued "I thought that this would be more your scene, and not this." He finished by pointing to his left cheek; swatches of blue forming the undisturbed lines of his colony markings.

"I like both, I just happen to like blue more. Most humans do. It's actually the most common preferred colour amongst the human race."

"So why go through the trouble of tinting your armour red if blue is your favourite colour?"

"I don't know if it's the same with other species, but humans associate certain colours with expression or emotions. Red can convey passion, determination and confidence; all qualities a commanding officer needs. By wearing red if I'm not feeling the vibe I'm trying to give off, the colour can help inspire me and hopefully send a subconscious message to those around. Another reason is that I have a hunch that threshers are red and green colour blind based off some behaviour I noticed. I figured that if it could potentially give an advantage if I came across one, even slight one, why not take it. That and…."

"And?"

"And… while I think both colours look good on me, but I've always thought I carried red off a bit better than blue," Shepard said with a sheepish look. "What? I'm allowed to secretly be a little bit vain, am I not?"

"Are you sure it's that and not because red goes better with the N7 logo that's on everything you wear?"

"It is not on everything."

"Really?" Garrus asked with a skeptic quirk of his brow plate.

"Yes," Shepard replied emphatically.

"One hundred credits says that you've got at least one N7 logo on your undergarments."

A shocked scoff escaped from Shepard's lips and while she sat there with her mouth hanging in a loose "O", she stared at her turian companion temporarily speechless. Garrus on the other hand found that his mandibles were extending wider and wider with each new shade of red Shepard's cheeks were turning.

Shepard opened her mouth, seemingly like she would answer, but then closed it again. She went through this motion a few times before she slowly responded, "I cannot confirm or deny whether or not I have an N7 logo on my underpants, but a lady never discusses her unmentionables in polite conversation."

Garrus threw his head back and cackled, while Shepard gently elbowed him in the arm. "Argh, you can be such a jerk sometimes, you know that?"

"I'm more curious as to where do you even get them? Is there a N7 clothing catalogue that you shop from? Or do you purchase your clothes and then have it added on? I'm thinking that you must buy them because I don't know why you'd even go to the trouble of even bothering to add it to your underpants and that breast harness you have."

"First Garrus, it's called a bra. Second, if you seriously want to know the answer to that, you've got to make it an official question. So ask yourself… is it worth it?" Shepard asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"While tempting, I think leaving some things to the imagination may be a bit more fun."

"Gotta have some mystery left to me by the end of the day, otherwise I'd just be a regular old Spectre and former Alliance commander who got resurrected after she bit the bullet."

"Shepard, I doubt you could be a regular anything."

"Flatterer. Any who…Back to business?" Shepard paused for Garrus' nod of agreement, and kept going when the turian gave it. "Okay, so say that theoretically the whole thing with Saren never happened. I never came to the Citadel, you were never assigned to investigate into his dealings. Things would have just kept going the way they were before Eden Prime. Even keel. Given that scenario, do you think you would have stayed with C-Sec?

Shepard took in Garrus' features as he pondered her question; his arms crossed across his broad chest, chin dipping down into the hollow in between his neck and his cowl ridge, with his facial features taking on a bit of a scrunched look. She was impressed that she had gotten him really thinking and recalled back to the few times when she had witnessed the sight that presently sat before her. Occasionally it had been when he was contemplating a particularly tricky bit of code in the Thanix's programming algorithms, one that was particularly being a thorn in his side, but it was right after what happened with Sidonis and as he came to terms with the outcome that she had noticed it the most.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what would have happened if things had stayed the way they were going for me. I figure one of two options could have played out; the chances of each happening probably at around fifty-fifty. The one I think most likely would have happened is that something would come up that would have dragged me into Pallin's office and I'd either quit or be dismissed. Which knowing me, it would have then ended with me telling the Executor where he could stuff his bureaucratic crap and heading off to Omega ahead of schedule."

"And the second option?"

"The other possibility is that I would have been able to tough it out long enough to become cynical, jaded, burned out and angry for the remainder of my career. I would have wound up miserable for the rest of my days and would take anyone brave enough to get close to me down that road as well," Garrus paused for a minute and sighed before he went on.

"There is a high chance I would blame my father for my lot in life instead of myself for not changing it. I would become depressed at the idea that I had become my father, and never have come to the realization how that is perfectly fine that I am not like him and never will be. Either way, I'm glad events played out the way they did. Hunting down Saren was a challenge don't get me wrong, but I'm glad I got a chance to be on the Normandy alongside you and the rest of the crew of the SR1. I learned a lot while I was on board, from what it's like to work closely with members of other races to how many ways a Mako can be abused. I'm a better man for serving with you, Shepard. Just wanted you to know that I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in this entire galaxy."

"Wow, shit…Garrus….that's pretty deep," Shepard said, looking into the blue of her comrade's eyes, for once momentarily speechless. She patted his forearm and when she found she could put more than two words together she continued, "Sucks that it took the threat of the end of the galaxy for us to wind up crossing paths. Gives some weight to the old human saying "there's a silver lining in every cloud", don't you think? I mean…I can't even imagine what my team would have been like without you."

"Thanks, it's…always nice to know you're needed. I'm aware that realistically the chances of us meeting on our own aren't good. Not with the circumstances being what they were and given who we are. But I'd like to think that fate would intervene and we'd finally stumble into each other."

"How would it happen?" Shepard asked with an arched eyebrow and a smirk.

"Huh?"

"How would we meet if things were different? Say I did come to the Citadel, but for shore leave. How do you think we could have met?"

"It's clichéd but probably in a bar. Standing back from the rest of the crowd, watching those who can dance do their thing while contemplating how drunk we'd need to be to join them. Cause let's face it, we may own the battlefield, but we're lost when it comes to a club dance floor," Garrus stated as he brought up his hand to rest his chin on a loose fist.

"I'd put my money on chatting each other up during a particularly long elevator ride."

"If you drive a sky car like you drive the Mako, there'd be a good chance you'd get pulled over. Didn't do it a lot while I was a detective, but duty required me to step in when I saw a vehicle being operated in an unsafe manner. If I just happened to be that at the right place at the right time…"

"…to witness as I intervened while helping stop a crime or assisting a citizen of the Citadel with one of their many dilemmas. I can see how you'd want to meet me after that," Shepard cut him off as she beamed and jokingly puffed out her chest.

"You'd come to my rescue by swimming to the middle of the lake and fishing me out after falling in."

"You'd let me out of the brig if things ever got too rowdy after a night of drinking with Wrex."

The longer the discussion went on the more elaborate and improbable the details behind the encounters they dreamed up became. Shepard eventually had to raise her hand to motion for a pause when Garrus had gotten her howling with laughter so hard she was coughing and gasping for breath.

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_Disclaimer: See description._

_Hey everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome New Year! Sorry this chapter took a bit longer, but RL bit me in the ass BIG time the past little while, on top of trying to get things in the story set up in a way I like._

_As usual, my deepest thanks to sisyphe, trapinchh, eternalmetalhead and Melissa for their reviews and to everyone who has favourited/followed this story. You guys are so awesome! Special kudos to sisyphe and trapinchh for their support behind the scenes._

_I now have a tumblr account, although I will warn you it's pretty bare. Still trying to figure this thing out. But if you feel like dropping me a line there, I can be found under the user name minionofmoo._


	7. Chapter 7

It took a couple of minutes before they managed to calm down. Shepard's cheeks matched the colour of her armour by the time she managed to get out of what she clearly stated "was NOT a giggle fit".

"One thing I've always been curious about. What do you do in your spare time?" Garrus asked as he rolled up a blanket to stick in behind his neck so he could rest more comfortably against the cave wall.

"What's that? What is this spare time you speak of?" Shepard replied with feigned ignorance.

Garrus cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at her response."Oh c'mon Shepard! With Miranda as your XO, you can't tell me that you have the same amount of paperwork when you were in the Alliance."

Shepard nodded and conceded that Garrus did have a point. "Yeah, Miranda is pretty awesome in that respect. There are still some administrative things I like to take care of on my own, cause you know control issues with a heaping dash of "I don't trust Cerberus". But even with Miranda helping out that still means I have more time to focus on my crew. Which frankly is spectacular cause I need any extra time I can squeeze out of the day now that the ground team rotation is double the size of what it was on the SR1. Catching up with you, Wrex and Ash was like shooting fish in a barrel. All I had to do is head to the cargo hold and BOOM!", Shepard mimicked an explosion with her hands. "There you all were, with Tali just a stone's throw away. Now the squad is scattered everywhere. If I didn't know that this ship was larger than the SR1 when I first boarded, I would have quickly figured it out after my first week of rounds."

"Still, I know eventually you manage to head up to that palatial room of yours. What do you do to unwind when you're up there?"

"Not a lot. I jump in the shower and then get back to finishing up reports while I dry off. I do watch the occasional vid, although I find it hard to really get into unless I'm on shore leave. Even off duty for the night I feel a strong urge to multi-task, so if I watch something, it's usually background noise when I'm putting a ship model kit together when I can get my hands on one," Shepard replied. a nonchalant look on her face.

"And….?", Garrus waved his hand urging her on.

Shepard bit her bottom lip and thought for a second before continuing. "Having the pets is pretty awesome. I never got to have that growing up as a military brat. I was always living on ships and military bases, and now that I have them, I realize what I missed out on. I will admit, it hasn't been completely smooth sailing. I may have lost a couple batches of fish, but at least I've managed to keep the tank I have now alive for a decent amount of time," her pride evident in her wide smile.

"I thought was Kelly the reason why you haven't had to have as many aquatic funerals?"

"Okay, okay, Kelly has been a huge help at keeping them alive," Shepard admitted. "But I think it's because she saw how upset I was when I lost the Prejek paddlefish and took pity on me. I wish they weren't so delicate and have to be fed every so many hours. Those little suckers cost a fortune."

Garrus swore he could see her calculating how many of her own credits she had spent to replace her tank and held back a chuckle at the disturbed face Shepard made when it appeared she had a final number. Shepard sighed, "At least it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. She was drawn to them when I invited her up here to hang out for a bit. I appreciate the help and if she gets to enjoy the fish while she's up here all the better."

"What about the hemstar? You know, that rodent you have?"

"It's hamster. My little Nestor," Shepard cooed as Garrus shook his head and chuckled at Shepard's reaction to the little ball of fur that would have been considered vermin on his planet. "I managed to build him a little ramp for the steps so he can move been my living area and office. You know so he can have more time to run around in his exercise ball."

"You mean that plastic bubble you brought onto the ship and Tali thought was a miniature replica of the one she lived in before she graduated into her enviro suit?"

"Yup, that's the one. I don't have a good metal exercise wheel yet as it seems like he enjoys destroying the plastic ones they have on the Citadel for fun, so at least this way he can get a bit of exercise and explore around the room."

"So reports, pets, and the odd model ship thrown in for variety? Please tell me you do more than that, Shepard," Garrus said with a quirked brow plate.

"Hey, who are you to judge Mr. Calibrations?" Shepard gently poked the front of Garrus' chest plate. "I'll have you know I do read for fun. I probably do that the most. Nothing in particular, just whatever catches my attention. Could be articles on from the extranet about new discoveries, or a novel a friend has recommended. On the SR1 if I came across an article on a recent Prothean discovery, I would forward it off to Liara to see if she had seen it yet. I learned a LOT from her discussing it afterwards. I've started doing the same with Mordin, just without the need to forward him the article first. Turns out needing only an hour or two of sleep a day really gives him a lot of time to read, so he's already WAY ahead of me."

"What about when you were growing up? Did you do the same kinds of things then?"

"Aside from reading, no. Between the ages of six and twelve, I was lucky enough to have access to a gymnastics program."

"Huh?"

"It's a sport that involves developing and maintaining physical agility and coordination. It really helps if you're flexible. I did a little bit of everything, but I definitely preferred the floor routine and the balance beam the most. Lots of flips, and tumbling. There's a remote chance I might be able to still do a one of my old floor routines. I'm pretty sure I remember at least part of one. I can't guarantee it will turn out well given it's been ages since I've done anything like it. Plus I'm about eight inches taller than I was when I quit."

"Did you stop because of school, or did your parents get posted to a new location?"

"Uhhhh…neither. I stopped because… I had a rather nasty accident. Took me a while to recover from," Shepard sighed and clasped the back of her head over her amp port. "Did I ever tell you that when I initially had my amp installed I was fitted with a L2 implant?"

Garrus' attention perked up at the small surprise in Shepard's admission. "No. Did Kaidan know that?"

"No, I didn't feel quite right mentioning it to Kaidan. Not with what he's gone through with his own implant. That and…well, me having the L2 didn't last long. I had it in for a month and a half. One nasty slip on the balance beam and I cracked my head right on the amp port going down. With how unstable the L2 was to begin with, everything had to be removed to try and get the swelling and bleeding under control. The doctors didn't think I would survive." Shepard shot Garrus a sajd smile. "I guess my habit of defying the odds started early cause obviously I pulled through."

"Spirits, Shepard," concern vastly apparent in the tone of his dual vocal cords. "How old did you say you were?"

"I was twelve. At first the doctors were certain I was going to be brain dead, and it was only a matter of time before my poor mother would have to make the decision on whether or not to shut down the machines that were keeping her only child alive. Then they saw I still had brain activity, and the question became how much brain damage I would be stuck with and whether I'd be plagued with debilitating seizures for the rest of my life. When they realized that I was going to walk away from it, without any lasting effects other than some scarring near my port, my mother who had never gambled a day in her life went out and bought a bunch of lottery tickets. I think she said won about a hundred and fifty credits. After I recovered, it didn't feel right going back to it. I didn't want to give Mom an aneurism after what she went through. Plus I wanted to focus a bit more on school and other things."

"You were very lucky. Your poor mother hasn't had it easy, has she?"

"Yeah, no kidding. I stuck with less dangerous activities until it was clear I had healed enough to be fitted with a new amp and start more physical training to prepare for enlisting with the Alliance. If that poor woman has a heart attack I swear I'm going to be the one to blame for it."

"What activities were those?"

"I played the cello between the age of seven to seventeen," Shepard paused and brought up an image of the stringed instrument on her omnitool. "My parents insisted I learn to play an instrument, and I wanted something different than they played. Dad was awesome with the guitar, and Mom had a small keyboard in our quarters. She said she happy with it, but I knew she longed for a full sized piano. That's why I had to give it up, instruments just take up way too much room when you're moving from one mission to the next in the military."

"Did you perform?", Garrus asked with piqued interest.

"Oh yeah, I mean the kids on the base had recitals, but where we were stationed there wasn't always enough people for what you would call a school band. Actually in high school I wound up...I wound up singing more than playing the cello. My best friend Kevan was really into theatre and he usually persuaded me to act in whatever play he was throwing together. If there was a role that needed a vocalist or even if he needed a singer to act as filler in between plays, I was usually it. Whether I liked it not."

"You were in plays? Is there video?" Garrus snickered. "I'm shocked that no one talks about this or has seen it. Emily Wong and al-Jilani would sell their first born at a chance to own a copy of that."

"Let's not mention this to anyone, okay?" Shepard harrumphed. "I don't need for anyone to go looking for the footage. Not when we have friends who may have a chance of finding it. As for any vids, let's just say that the only copies I'm aware of are safely locked away and no one is going to find them. Period."

"I don't know what I can't believe more: that you have acted and sang on stage or that someone else bossed you into it," Garrus said, as he shook his head in mild disbelief.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't always assertive for myself, I had to grow and mature into it. I mean, if I really didn't want to do something it was pretty easy to say no, but Kevan had a way of just finagling me into doing it. I did enjoy it in the end; I have some great memories of it."

"Think the crew will ever get to hear you sing?", Garrus inquired. "Kasumi keeps wanting us to go to one of those karaoke bars they have on the Citadel."

"Ha! That would be fun and probably hilarious. Something tells me that Zaeed would be friggin awesome even though I know he can't sing worth shit." An excited look turned sombre and wistful. "Sad to say I think that idea will have to go on the list of "crap to do in the future". Right now we've got a super full dance card and I doubt we'll have enough time before we go after the Collectors."

"Yeah, mission comes first. Spirits, sometimes when the Thanix data is compiling I try and think of all the things you've done for your crew, all the things you said you'd do just so we're ready, and I just shake my head. You know not all commanding officers would go to the extremes you do for their crew, right?"

"Hey, I need the lot of you in your peak form, so if blowing up a former Cerberus base, or hunting someone down, or going through the krogan equivalent of a bar mitzvah is what's needed, I'm game. If it helps you focus, I'm glad to help. Although…." Shepard trailed off, seemingly torn about whether to continue on in her inquiry. A gentle nudge to the ribs from Garrus' elbow seemed to do the trick with helping her decide to keep talking.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," Shepard groaned. She could tell that her cautious and hesitant look was beginning to make her comrade's mandible flick with uneasiness. "When we were on the Citadel, if Sidonis had moved in a way I couldn't have anticipated…Let's just say that there was the tiniest of windows that you thought you could have taken the shot. Would you have done it?"

Part of her wanted to take the question back as soon as she asked. It occurred to her instantly that it was too soon to be talking about a sore spot that had only just begun to heal; she should known better and let him be the one to bring the subject up when he was ready.

Before she could dismiss what she had said, he shook his head; his demeanour a lot calmer than she thought it would be. "No. Never. Not a chance. Why would you think I would have acted any differently than I did?"

"I don't know. You're so damn good with that rifle, and with the way he was pacing I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with a turian stride and you'd blow his brains out." She rubbed her temples in exasperation and prayed she wasn't being an asshole.

"You managed to keep pace with him pretty well. Even if he did manage to get out where I knew I could get the shot in, the chance of you jumping in the way was too damn high for me. You were a hundred percent correct when you told him that you were the only thing standing in between him getting a hole in the head."

"Yeah, but…" Her gaze fell to her folded hands resting on her lap.

"Shepard." Garrus's tone coaxed her to look at him, the concern in his eye making it impossible for her to look away. "I was drunk on instinct, and thoughts and memories of what that bastard had done. At the same time I was remembering back to what happened with Saleon and how you were trying to tell me something then. I was trying to decipher whether or not you were trying turn Sidonis into another one of your "let's teach the turian something" moments. Throw all those complications, all those thoughts, plus that you were talking and he was talking on top of trying to decide if pulling the trigger is the right thing, and…no. As long as you were down there and close to him, there was no way I could shoot. If there was one thing that was clear as day, it was I could never put you in danger. "

Shepard shook her head and regarded her fellow captive a solemn look.

Wanting to steer the conversation back to more a more upbeat tone, Garrus tried to slide back into their usual cocky banter. "Besides, if I had played fast and loose with your safety, Miranda would have torn me a torn me a new one. Not that she really scares me, but I would feel bad about ruining all the hard work she put into putting you back together. She did such a great job. Besides, I think you're letting this bother you more than it does me." He internally patted himself on the back when he got a raised eyebrow and a gentle smile in return.

"You do know I don't intentionally try to all teacher-mode every time you ask for help with something, right? Does seem to go that way though, doesn't it?"

"I don't mind. How many other people can say they've learned what I have at the great Commander Shepard's elbow?"

Shepard snickered. "You're a bit too experienced to really be considered my protégé anymore."

"What can I say? I'm a life-long learner."

"Well young Grasshopper, it's your turn again. Continue your learning by asking your sensei for the knowledge you desperately seek," Shepard said with a mock bow.

Garrus rummaged amongst the supplies, pulling out a packet of dual chirality biscuits and split the snack between him and Shepard. "So Jacob was helping me catalogue and take inventory of some of the parts I need to maintain the Thanix a couple weeks back. He opened a tool box where he found a pack of cookies hidden in one of the trays. At first he was making fun of me for being a slob with my tools, and that I forgot that I had left a snack in there. But then he noticed it was levo. Which made me wonder…are you still hiding food around ship?"

Garrus didn't need to wait for her to reply to know the answer. Her cheeks began to take on the deeper, vibrant shade of red that appeared whenever she was embarrassed or intoxicated as she nibbled at her snack.

It had become fond memory of the SR1 for him watching Shepard wander around the ship on her rounds, only to notice part way through she had managed to produce some kind of energy bar or preserved treat seemingly out of thin air. No one noticed at first exactly what she was doing as she was discreet as she could be, but then as people began to clue in that the Commander had squirreled away food, it had become a bit of a game to try and find her hiding spots and see what she kept to help tide her over between meals.

"Remember what I said about the ship being bigger than the last one? I get hungry! I don't want to have to take the elevator up to my room or run all the way to the mess every time I need something to nibble. Gardner would get so sick of me."

"You're gonna lose your food Shepard! I've already seen Grunt sniff out and devour a pack of that red candy you seem to adore, and Joker broke his rule of not talking to EDI unless it was absolutely necessary to ask where your closest stash was. Guess he doesn't want to have to walk all the way down to the mess either."

"Awww that's what happened to my cherry sours?" Shepard pouted. "I was beginning to think I had stashed them in a different fire extinguisher compartment. And thanks for letting me know about that fink, Joker. That'll teach me for stashing anything within his walking distance. He knows my tactics too well from the SR1."

"Do you ever get tired of having to snack as much as you do?"

She shrugged. "Eh, it's just a side effect. Being a biotic is pretty awesome most of the time, but when it comes to keeping fed, that's the bit that's a pain in the ass. But to me being able to generate mass effect fields on your own is worth the gluttony."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better Shepard, I kept Jacob from eating your cookies, even though I could tell he really wanted them. I did move them to a spot that is less likely to come into contact with a solvent."

"Thanks. I'm sorry, I should have asked you if I could have stashed them there," Shepard said as Garrus waved off her apology as unnecessary. She raised her arms over her head and stretched her back and smiled then settled back into her nest of blankets. "So wanna guess how long we've been in here?

Garrus pulled up his omnitool and groaned at the time. "It's been six hours."

"Argh!….That's it?! Well at least if we're lucky Grunt's made it back to the Normandy by now."

"Tired of my company already? It's alright Commander, you don't have to say anything. I get the message," Garrus said, feigning hurt.

Rolling her eyes, Shepard huffed, "You know that's not what I mean. It's just it's probably going to be a while until we're sprung, so I'm thinking…."

"Shepard?"

"So what would you say to upping the ante on the types of questions we ask?"

"Like?" Garrus was finding himself perturbed by the mischievous grin that spread across Shepard's face and began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

So Garrus, have you ever fucked an alien?"

* * *

_Disclaimer: See description._

_Hey Everyone! It's been a while, to which I am so, so sorry! T-T I think 2016 was a rough year for a lot of people, myself included. This chapter was written and re-written countless times (still on the fence if I'm happy with it), but it's done. At times it felt like I was an ant trying to push a brick across the Sahara to do it, but it's finally done._

_Thank you so much to everyone for all your reviews, favourites, and just taking the time to read what my little mind has managed to churn out. Your support means the world to me. _


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